~~~~~~~1912~~~~~~~~
Tanjiro was looking at his sister, who had been asleep for a little while now, she had not woken up yet. He narrowed his eyes, he knew Master Urokodaki was waiting for him outside. He put his green and black jacket over the rest of his clothes, and then went outside, giving one last worried look at his sister.
As they traveled further up the mountain, Tanjiro thought back to his conversation with the master last night. 'So no one knows when the man-eating demons first appeared, but at some point, demon slayers started showing up. Despite their limitation as humans with mortal bodies, they fight demons who can fight indefinitely.' he shuttered a little, and not just because of the cold air he felt as he made his way up the mountain. 'The only ways known to kill a demon are the sun, and cutting off their heads by the neck using Nichirin swords that are made from a special ore.' Tanjiro was not happy with the gruesomeness, but at least it seemed quick. He wondered if he even could crush the head of the temple demon he fought two days ago.
Soon they were high up on the mountain and Urokodaki stopped. "Make your way down the mountain, and so as fast you can." Tanjiro blinked "huh?" as he said that a cloud of cold air came out of his mouth. Without even looking back Urokodaki said, "I won't wait till sunrise." with some dust clouds going passed him Urokodaki was gone, leaving Tanjiro and the top. Though he did not understand why he figured that this was part of his training. 'At least I hope. I would not know what to think if he just punished me by doing this.'
As Tanjiro ran down the mountain he made note of how the air was thicker. It did make his running down the mountain harder to do, but he made his breathing easy and calm. Suddenly he smelled the air and knives came flying at him. He was able to dodge them, seeing them get stabbed into the side of a tree. His eyes widened 'that's why he set up traps all the way down the mountain. But thanks to my nose I will know when they are coming!' with a confident smile he restarted his, only just a few seconds later he fell into a pit trap covered by leaves. "Uhhh…." he mumbled out as he lay at the bottom of the pit.
Many days later as Tanjiro was swinging his sword, which he did every day before sundown, he coughed and thought to himself. 'Master Urokodaki once told me to only strike with the sharp side of the blade, any other side and it could break.' he gulped 'he told me if I ever break one of his swords he would break every bone in my body' Tanjiro believed his master would do it as well.
Day after day Tanjiro ran down the mountain, avoiding traps, getting hit by traps, swinging his sword till sunrise, it had become a daily routine for him. Every day he woke up and saw Nezuko was still asleep, it made him feel great distress over his sisters' well-being. Yet it also reminded him why he was doing this in the first place. If becoming a demon slayer could help him find a way to turn Nezuko back into a human as well as kill the demon who turned her, it was all worth this exhausting training.
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Tanya and Weiss were walking up to the butterfly mansion, they were not on the same mission but they had run into each other on the way. "So the old man is still kicking?" Tanya jokingly asked in regards to general Ruderkodia. Weiss gave the same nod "yeah, he is dedicated to the village defenses. I don't go by there much, but when I do I think I don't have to worry about a demon attacking like that Zettour again." after chuckling a little bit he said "that, and even if a demon got in I'm sure the general would turn them into meat skewers with his lance."
Tanya was certain that most normal demons would be slaughtered by Ruderkodia and his lance, he was able to trade blows with Kyujuro even when under mind control. 'I wonder what will happen when the great war kicks off, assuming it does that is. Bet it would be up the general's alley.' of course assuming that barring demons this world followed Earths' regular timeline would mean it would also be the first in many events to start the downfall of the Japanese empire. Not that it would be Tanya's problem. Her days of fighting in global conflicts were, hopefully, far behind her.
When they made it to the Butterfly Mansion they split off, Weiss going to get his broken hand looked at, Tanya to the main yard. There she heard "Flower breathing…" near. She walked over and saw many wooden mannequins cut in half, and Kanao sheathing a sword. "wonderful Kanao, aside from the final technique, which we agreed you should only use in emergencies, that's all the techniques in quick succession." Kanao nodded, not even showing an ounce of fatigue, just a regular smiling face. "Thank you, master." Tanya clapped as well, causing the two to look over at her "yeah, congratulation Kanao." the quiet girl nodded her head.
"Since you are here Tanya, want to test out Kanao's sword technique?" Shinobu suggested with a bright smile. Small sweat went down Kanao's head, but she kept her regular stagnant smile as well. Tanya could tell Kanao was tired even if the girl was trying not to show it "well, tell me, next time or now Kanao?" she asked it as a decision-based question on purpose, she does that a lot with Kanao, and attempt to get her to make her own decisions. Unfortunately much like every time before Kanao took out her coin and flipped it in the air, when it landed she said "Next time, oneesan." she then looked at Shinobu, just in case her master wanted her to train with Tanya instead. Shinobu shook her head "it is fine, go take a rest you did well today."
Tanya deeply sighed "Shinobu, Kanao will never learn to make her own decisions if you keep letting her use the coin." her older sister giggled, "Kanao can't make decisions without it. She needs it and it isn't harming anyone. Besides, Kanae gave her that coin to help her, why not let her keep using it?" Tanya shook her head, not believing Shinobu was okay with Kanao being in a constant state of indecision. Sure she heard what state the girl was in when Kanae and Shinobu found her, but it still frustrated Tanya. 'Maybe if I can get her in a team setting, being with a group when fighting a demon can force her into last-minute decision making…' Tanya Smirked devilishly, forgetting her older sister was still there. 'I feel like I should be worried about that…' Shinobu thought to herself.
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Tanjiro had just woken up, but he heard other voices outside besides Urokodaki's. He got up, a little worried since Nezuko was inside as well. He smelled the air, smelling three people. 'Three people? Why would three people suddenly- wait' he sniffed the air again.
Tanjiro threw open the door to Urokodaki's hut. He saw his master of course, as well as Giyu and two others he did not recognize, a bow with short yellow hair and a fox mask hanging from the back of his head, and a girl with long brown hair. "Mr. Tomioka!" he shouted out as he ran up to the man who spared his sister, Tanya had told him that the swordsman had been the reason for Nezuko being spared. He wanted to thank Giyu again, but with the two new people there he had to choose his words carefully. "I wanted to Thank you again for saving me and my sister." he smiled brightly while saying this, Both the boy and the girl seemed to be laughing for some reason. Giyu nodded his head "it was no problem."
Tanjiro then turned to the others, "Hello, I am Tanjiro Kamado, master Urokodaki's new student." the boy gave a nervous grin, "Is that so?" he looked over at the elder man, who nodded. "Yes. Tanjiro is a decent student, he is doing better than you did only a few months into training." the Boy sulked at his master's cruelty. "W-well that's good. I'm Vooren Granz." The girl spoke up, "and I am Viktoriya Urokodaki. I am his adopted granddaughter." Tanjiro shakes both of their hands "well it's nice to meet both of you, and it's kinda sweet to know master has a soft side." Urokodaki flinched a little.
Viktoriya, Granz, and even Giyu all looked at each other, having the same 'he doesn't know yet' look on their faces, but they would leave it for now, when their master wanted to tell Tanjiro about all the other children he has taken in he would do so on his own time. "I'll go make some tea, it's in the same place right grandfather?" Viktoriya said, but as she was going towards the Cabin Tanjiro walked in front of her. "Don't!" all of them gave him a confused look. Tanjiro cleared his throat and said, "M-my sister is asleep right now." Viktoriya smiled "oh it's alright, I will be quiet." Tanjiro was determined not to let them in, if Nezuko woke up and attacked them he would lose his case before he even becomes a demon slayer! Urokodaki saved him though "why don't I make it? Tanjiro knows how quiet I can be." though Viktoriya was still confused about why, she agreed to it though.
Later, Giyu and Viktoriya had gone with Tanjiro to the top where he usually starts his descent down the mountain. "Um…are you sure this is okay?" Tanjiro asked as the two nodded. "Yes, Giyu is going to help you with your training today, I am here to keep watch and reset the traps." Viktoriya started walking off to the side, having the teapot and cups set up, as well as a strange gourd Giyu had brought along. "Are you ready Tanjiro?" the boy nodded. "Good, watch carefully, I don't have a good sense of smell like you and Master do. But keep watch."
Giyu started to rush down the mountain. Tanjiro watched as Giyu not only dodged every pit trap, every log and knife was thrown his way. But also deflected the knives perfected with his sword, something Tanjiro had been struggling with since Urokodaki had him start training with a sword. After it was done, Giyu came back up, and unlike Tanjiro made it down and back up all in one hour. Tanjiro's mouth was agape, he had lost track of Giyu's movements more than halfway through. Viktoriya giggled "I will go set up the traps again, Giyu can explain to you while I do."
While Tanjiro and Giyu drank tea the water hashira spoke "I am sure the master taught you that our sword fighting techniques we use on demons, we require breathing techniques." Tanjiro nodded "yeah, I figured that's why he has me doing my training up here, due to the thicker air." Giyu drank a bit of tea and then responded "yes, but there is more. While your sense of smell helps you Kamado, it means nothing if you cannot keep yourself moving or keep your breathing stable. You need to get total concentration breathing constant, to keep up at an active pace." Tanjiro understood "well I've been trying, but it is not easy."
Giyu then places the gourd by Tanjiro's feet. "What's this?" he asked out of obvious curiosity. Giyu crossed his arms, he simply said "try blowing into it till it breaks." Tanjiro chuckled nervously, but he realized not too long after that Giyu was not joking. So he unpopped the cap, took a deep breath in, and blew into the gourd as hard as he could. He blew air out until he needed to stop to catch his breath. He coughed a little bit afterward. The gourd was not even close to being broken.
Tanjiro sulked, but Giyu patted him on the back, kneeling by him. "It is fine, I would have been shocked if you got it your first time. This will help you, when you can break it then you will have done well." Tanjiro smiled, "that's amazing! Thanks Mister Tomioka!" then Giyu said, "an um, friend of mine provided bigger gourds as well, so make sure you can break those as well." Tanjiro's head fell into his shoulders as he less enthusiastically said "oh…great. Thank you." they then both heard "aww, you two look like an older brother helping a younger brother." which came from Viktoriya, making Giyu instantly stand up. "Okay, Kamado, when you make it down the mountain I will test your sword fighting skills." with that Giyu was gone, "oh…see you at the bottom!" Viktoriya said as she left as well. Tanjiro blinked with wide eyes "um…okay see you both later."
Meanwhile, Granz and Urokodaki were by a boulder, a large one. "I plan to make this the boulder I have Tanjiro cut before I send him to final selection." Granz gave an unsure stare in his eyes. "I understand master, with the demon still there you don't want to send him to final selection. But this boulder is thicker and tougher than the ones you usually have us cut. It is not really fair to the boy." Urokodaki nodded, " I am aware, which is why I am doing it." Granz looked back at the boulder and said, "if what Giyu told me is right, even this boulder won't be enough to stop that stubborn boy." Urokodaki said nothing, he just prayed he would not send another slaughtered. Granz got lucky, he was unsure if Tanjiro would be just as lucky.
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Tanjiro breathed hard into the medium-sized Gourd, causing it to burst and many pieces of the bottom half to fly off of it. "Yes!" he shouted in excitement, all that was left of the gourd the size of him. He was unsure if he would be ready any time soon for that. "Tanjiro makes sure to clean that up!!" he heard Urokodaki shout from inside. "y-yes of course!" he had grabbed a broom. He gave a determined face though as he swept up the pieces. He was certain he would make it down the mountain now in the amount of time his master wanted. it has taken two more months, but he was confident he would.
Later that day, Urokodaki was stirring a pot of hot soup in his home. Then his door was suddenly slid open, he turned and saw Tanjiro huffing and coughing, he had some wounds but was otherwise alright. He looked directly at the master and said "I did it. Huhhh, I did it." Urokodaki stood up, his mask hiding his face of sorrow. Tanjiro could not smell it either, they both had good senses of smell, but the master knew how to hide his. "Follow me," he said in a blank tone, Tanjiro gave a confused look. But he did as he was told.
They walked through the snow on mount Sagiri. Urokodaki remained silent, 'I should have expected he would clear it faster when Giyu came here with those gourds. But I did not expect it to only take two more months. I hope this boulder will be enough. I can't send another child to their death.' he thought to himself. The two made it to a boulder, sitting alone in the middle of a circle in between some trees. "This boulder is your last test Tanjiro, when you can cut it in half with your sword, I will allow you to go to final selection." he gave one last look at the boy and left to head back to his hut.
Tanjiro stared at the boulder, holding the sword his master gave him. "Cut it in half? My sword will break though," he said to himself. But he clenched his sword tight, and despite knowing it would not happen just yet, he went for a swing at it. Though all it resulted in was a sending of shock throughout his whole body, making him walk back in pain. with seething teeth, he went for it again. He did it until he could no longer handle swinging the sword. "I can do this, I have to!"
~~~~~~~~~1913~~~~~~~~~
"Are you sure Tanya?" Kyujuro asked as they had just finished a joint mission. Tanya nodded "yeah, mount Sagiri is nearby. If you don't mind that is." the smiling boy nodded "of course! I am surprised you want to check on a boy training under a water breathing cultivator. Perhaps I'll meet the boy at some point!" he shouted in excitement. Tanya shrugged "the boy is stubborn, that's all I say about him." Kyujuro pats her on the head "I'll see you later, back at my home." just as he leaves. Tanya suddenly grabs hold of his arm, she smiles up at him with a bit of pink dust on her face "see you later Kyujuro."
Soon Tanya makes it to the foot of mount Sagiri, where she ran into Urokodaki. He is aware that Tanya knows about Nezuko, and he leads her inside. And after making Tea the two sit down to chat. "So, the girl has been asleep for almost a whole year?" Urokodaki nods. "I am keeping a watchful eye on her, she is fine and well and truly is just asleep." Tanya looked over at the room Nezuko was laying in, she wondered if it was bad or good. 'At least she is not attacking anyone though.'
"So where is the boy?" Tanya asked between sips of tea. "He is training. Trying to cut a boulder in half." Tanya's eyes gave an inquisitive look. "A boulder? Can't you just use a regular wooden pole to see if he can cut demons' necks?" Urokodaki shook his head and said "I already know he can cut the neck off of regular demons, that is not the point. I have my reasons for having my students do this." he left out the part where the boulder Tanjiro needed to cut was thicker and tougher than the ones he usually uses for his students. Tanya then stood up "do you mind telling me where that is then?"
"Ahhh!" Tanjiro swings at the boulder, once again it just clanks against it. He huffs a little, he looks at his hands, they were not chafing or bleeding yet so he could keep going for now. He then sniffed at the air, someone was coming that was not his master. He looked over and saw Tanya approaching "oh, miss Kocho!" the blonde-haired girl made her way over "even while concentrating on your sword swinging you could smell me coming? Jeez."
Tanya walked up to the boulder, she felt sweat go down her forehead 'this boulder is really big and wide. I wonder if even I could cut it.' she looked back at Tanjiro "that old man is really making you work for it huh? My older sister isn't pushing her student to do something like this." Tanjiro chuckled, some sweat went down his head that he wiped away "yeah, but I think I can do it." Tanya did not believe that sure the boy was stubborn, but even she doubted she could break this boulder easily. "Well, that's good, if you want I can help train your sword skills. Not sure if it will make you swing stronger, but it might help you refine your technique."
Suddenly Tanjiro's face seemed to turn from mild amusement to a downcast look. "As much as I appreciate the offer, I think I need to turn you down." Tanya gave a look that Tanjiro was worried would turn into a glare, but instead, she seemed amused. "Oh? And why is that?" Tanjiro almost instantly answered "because I need to do this on my own. Urokodaki tries to hide it, but I can tell he is worried about sending me to the final selection. If I do this on my own, I can get rid of all of his doubts!" he sounded so sure of himself.
Tanya held back a laugh, it reminded her of more bright eyes soldiers in training. But still, he answered without hesitating, he was certain of his choice. It gave Tanya an idea, one that if Shinobu was okay with it, might help Kanao with her indecision. "Tanjiro, I am okay having you do this by yourself. But if Urokodaki is okay with it, would you be willing to train with others in a team?" just like how she, Granz, Aoi, and Viktoriya trained together as a team at one point, Tanya wanted to try it out again because outside of large scale problems like in Takoi village most demon slayers worked alone or in teams of two. But she has a hunch that teams of more than a few demon slayers would be a better idea, though maybe she was just feeling nostalgic from her empire days and wanted to train a group.
Tanjiro nodded "oh sure!" Tanya grinned a wide grin that made Tanjiro wonder 'what did I just agree to?' after Tanya left a boy with peach-colored hair and a fox mask over his face, along with a smaller girl with a small fox mask appeared on top of the boulder. Tanjiro smiled up at them "Sabito, Makomo! There you two are. I was wondering what kept you." Makomo tilted her head "why did you lie to that girl? You are after all getting help from us." Tanjiro smiled widely as said "exactly, that's all the help I need. Though who knows, maybe that group training Tanya suggested will help." Sabito then jumped off the boulder and said "you should have excepted the training from her, cause now you have to duel me." Tanjiro gulped as Sabito got his wooden sword out. But he already knew it was coming anyway.
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
A few days later Tanya came to the butterfly estate. She was doing sword sparing with Kanao while Shinobu and Mary watched. Mary had only come to chat with Viktoriya, but the girl had to leave for a mission. As their swords clashed Mary said in a worried tone "wow Tanya gives your student no slack." Shinobu nods "yes, but it means Kanao will be more prepared in the field. If she can match Tanya then I don't have to worry about most demons causing her many issues."
Kanao fell back, dropping her sword in the process. Tanya approached Kanao and offered her a hand to lift her up, she took it. "You did better Kanao, but you leave too many openings between swings." Kanao simply nods and goes to pick up her sword. Taking this opportunity Tanya walks up to Shinobu, "hey, how is her flower breath coming along?" Shinobu smiles "oh she's doing great, she can keep it up easily. All I do these days is watching so she does not get hurt or to give basic instruction. To be honest, your sword training is my only excuse for me pushing her off going this till next year."
Tanya grin widely "in that case, if you do not mind, can I take her to mount Sagiri for special training?" both Shinobu and Mary are not sure why Tanya would ask that. "Where mister Urokodaki lives and is training someone? Are sure that is a good idea?" Shinobu asks this with obvious concern, her sister had informed her of how difficult the former water Hashira's training can be, combining that with Tanya she did not want to overwhelm Kanao. "Yes, Urokodaki is fine with it. It will help Kanao with her sword training, and working with others out in the field."
Kanao walked over and so Shinobu asked her. "Kanao, would you be okay with Tanya training with you on mount Sagiri? It is far away." As if they expected anything else Kanao took out her coin and flipped it. 'Heads I go, tails I don't' Kanao thought to herself, not even thinking about if she wanted to go or not. It landed on the heads in her hands, she nodded and said "yes."
Tanya gave a wide grin "perfect! Now if I can just find one more student…" Shinobu put a hand on Tanya's shoulder "another one? Why Tanya?" she was worried about what the calculating girl could possibly want with more than one or two students. "I have my reasons. As I said, this will also help with working with others in the field." after a few seconds Mary, with caution in her voice said, "i-I think I might know someone, one of my master's current students in fact."
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
Tanya and Mary arrived at a place on a hill, there they saw an old man with a cane, who had a wooden peg where one of his legs should be. "Master! You got my crows letter right?" the old man nodded "yes, 'ahem' ZENITSU GET OUT HERE!!" he shouted loudly, as a boy with yellow hair and darker yellow tips poked his head out. "WHAT?! I AM FINALLY GETTING REST, CAN'T YOU LEAVE ME ALONE FOR A DAY GRAMPS!-" the boy stopped when he saw not only Mary but a shorter girl with blonde hair tied into a ponytail.
With a dopey smile he walked on over, Tanya could see Mary physically cringing. "Hello, Sue-chan~ come to visit again?" he spoke in a swooning voice, Tanya could tell why Mary was cringing now. The bow narrowed himself to face Tanya "hello~ are you Sue's friend? I am Zenitsu Agatsuma, how about you?~" Tanya wanted to barf "Tanya Kocho." Zenitsu giggled in excitement "Kocho-sama! Nice to meet a friend of Sue-chan! Hey want to be fri-" instead of cringing like Mary Tanya was slowly starting to glare at Zenitsu.
"Eh?" the boy's eyes went wide, feeling immense pressure, he suddenly hide behind Mary. "IS YOUR FRIEND A DEVIL MARY?!" he shouted loudly, as Tanya's glare made him what to run up a tree again, even if the last time he was struck by lightning. Mary sighed and shook her head "Zenitsu, I told you to stop doing that, you just annoy or creep girls rather than attract them." Mary gulped back twice before saying "besides, Tanya already has a boyfriend, you never stood a chance, to begin with." Zenitsu then gave out a large "HUH?!"
Suddenly Zenitsu was grabbed by Tanya and brought face to face "Listen to her, thunder boy, you are joining two others in training on a mountain. And if you at any point do that to me again, I'll throw you down the mountain." Normally Tanya tried to act cordial with people, but she felt that a more direct approach would be better for this boy. Zenitsu then ran back to his master, Jigoro, and shook the old man. "S-she kidding right gramps?! Tell her I'm no good and that I've only gotten one form of thunder breathing down!" the old man shook his head "Zenitsu I told you before that you are more than capable. Besides," with a large grin the old man says "this will be your last training before final selection. If miss Kocho approves that is."
Zenitsu froze, and after a full minute shouted "WHAT?!?! But she will kill me!" Tanya's eyes twitched and she thought 'I might just kill him now instead.' Working together Mary and Tanya manage to tie him to a rope leash, Zenitsu tried to run away but Tanya yanks him back. "Gah!" he spouts out. "Thanks, Mary…I guess" she really wished she had a better pick of the litter, but she knew no one else who was either training someone or was training to be a demon slayer. She sighed deeply "well I'll be off." Zenitsu tries to crawl away, but this time Tanya said in a cold tone "hey, we are going to take a few days to get there, if you don't behave and run into a demon on the way, I won't protect you." Zenitsu froze again, he was still crying to himself, but he did not want to be eaten!
Mary and Jigoro waved them off. "Mary…she's not going to actually kill Zenitsu is she?" the old man said with concern. Mary gave a nervous smile "I am sure she won't…I hope at least."
As Tanya and Zenitsu walked, the boy was still attached to the leash just in case. Tanya was thinking to herself 'I wish I had gotten more than three, but I suppose it works for now. Still though keeping Nezuko will be harder with two more around, but I am sure Urokodaki and Tanjiro are coming prepared.' she looked up at the sky 'these poor three, I say I feel bad, but I'm the one who is training them for the foreseeable months.'